Hartlepool United boss Paul Hartley offers transfer reassurance after duo leave for Newport County and Tranmere Rovers
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Since his arrival as manager, Hartley has already welcomed six new players to the club while five have made their exit from the Suit Direct Stadium.
But while that may seem like a reasonable turnover, it’s the fact several of those to depart Pools can be considered as key players, which has left supporters concerned with less than four weeks until the beginning of the season.
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Hide AdPools legend Gary Liddle confirmed his decision to leave Pools soon after Hartley’s appointment in favour of a move to non-league side South Shields followed by both Luke Molyneux and Timi Odusina, who rejected new deals before moving on to Doncaster Rovers and Bradford City respectively.
And last week saw two further important players head for the exit with both Omar Bogle and Neill Byrne leaving to join League Two rivals Newport County and Tranmere Rovers for undisclosed fees.
It leaves Hartley in a concerning predicament with a squad already low on numbers now missing five key characters who helped ensure Pools’ EFL status last season.
But the Pools boss has moved to ease any fears of supporters by addressing the situation, insisting the club are expecting a busy month ahead of the new campaign with offers having been made on two or three players.
“We’ll be busy,” said Hartley.
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Hide Ad“We’re going to have a strong squad. We know the areas that we need to fill and I can assure the fans we’re working really hard behind the scenes to bring good players into the club.
“We know we need to bring two or three strikers in. We've made offers for two or three players so it’s exciting times for the club and by July 30 I’m sure we’ll be ready and our squad will be strong.
“We’ve a lot of talented players already within the group but it will be a busy next couple of weeks for us as a football club and hopefully the Hartlepool fans will get right behind us.”
With much of the discussion being about the ambitions of success in League Two this season, with a play-off push the target, the Pools boss has reassured fans everyone is pulling in the same direction with the 45-year-old adamant he remains excited about the new season ahead.
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Hide Ad“The chairman has given me great backing and he’ll continue to do that. He knows the type of player we’re looking for, but it’s not easy to get a player over the line.
“But I can assure everyone that we’re working so hard to get the right type of player in and the right type of character.
“I’m really looking forward to the season. This is always the difficult period.
“We know we’ve got to bring so many players in. We need at least eight to 10 players bringing in, maybe more, but it’s not easy getting players in and getting them over the line.
“It takes a bit of time and people can get frustrated but I think we’ve just got to be patient and make sure we’re ready for that July 30 away to Walsall.”